Searching for holiday gift ideas that will promote fine motor, gross motor or sensory motor skills? Are you a professional working with families that are wanting recommendations for gifts that will help promote their child’s development? Want toys that will stand the test of time and get played with for longer than 5 minutes? As a pediatric Occupational Therapist here are my top brain-boosting toy pics for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and school-age children. The best part…just click the image links and you’ll be done with your holiday shopping in a jiffy!

The holidays are coming again! (I know, I know, take a deep breath!)

It’s that time of the year when the families I work with start asking what toys would be good for their child.

While many of you may not want or need more toys in your home, chances are those relatives are going to buy them something anyway. Might as well ask for something they’ll actually use and will teach them some skills, right?

As a pediatric Occupational Therapist for over 23 years, I have lots of favorite toys and gift ideas that I'm going to share with you today.

But before I do, let me share with you how I decided on which toys made the list.

This way, you’ll be able to quickly select that gift next time you are stuck in the toy aisle feeling overwhelmed and surrounded by lights and noise or when you’re up late at night scrolling Amazon for the best gift.

4 things to consider before buying a toy

Not all toys are created equal!

And chances are, if you let your child search through toy catalogs or go with you to the store, they won’t be selecting the best toys that will hold their attention and enhance their development (toy marketers are really good at fooling our kids and us too!)

But worry no more…if you ask yourself these 4 questions, you’ll be on your way to selecting the perfect toy every time.

Can the toy be played with in multiple ways?

Generally speaking, if a toy needs batteries then it’s not able to be played with in multiple ways.

While a toy with lights and sounds can be exciting at first, your child will usually lose interest quickly if there are no choices to play with it differently.

A great example of a toy that can be played with in different ways is blocks.

You can build them into a tower, make them into a house, or build them into a spaceship. The list of creative ideas is endless.

2. Will the toy grow with your child?

Less is more, especially when it comes to toys.

If you have multiple children at home, finding toys that meet the needs of various ages and stages of development can help save your house from looking like a toy store (can anyone relate?)

One toy that was always a big hit in my home for many years was a cash register.

When my children were younger they loved pushing the buttons and opening and closing the drawer and placing the coins in the slot.

As they've gotten older, we use it to play store and work on counting and math skills.

3. Does it promote creativity and imagination?

It's hard to get creative with toys that have lots of buttons, lights, and sounds because they do all the work for your child.

Generally speaking, if the toy needs batteries it is doing too much work for the child and not allowing their creativity to shine.

Some examples of toys that are simple and promote creativity are dress-up kits or puppets.

4. Does it encourage them to be active?

Young children learn by touching, moving, and doing.

They are not made to sit still for long periods.

Some of the best toys encourage children to move their bodies. One of the best and simplest ways to do this is by playing with lots of different-sized balls.

Now that you have these 4 principles of toy buying in your back pocket, I hope you feel ready to evaluate any toy in the store you may be considering this holiday season.

If you’re still not sure, here’s a list of tried and true awesome toys that your child is sure to love!

Affiliate links included below. See disclaimer for full details.

60+ toys that boost brain development

Brain development toys for infants/toddlers

Fat Brain Toys Spin Again

One of my all-time favorites for babies and toddlers! (ok, ok…I’m a little addicted to this one too!)

Fat Brain Toys Tobbles Neo

A great alternative to blocks for young kiddos since they stack so easily!

First Years Stacking Cups

A classic, must-have toy!

Squigz-36 piece set

Endless possibilities for creativity with these little suckers!

In my home we’ve use them in the bathtub and taken them on airplane trips (they stick to the laptrays and windows too!)

We’ve also used them on windows, sliding glass doors and on the tile floor to make a roadway for our matchbox cars.

Safe for mouthing and easy to clean. So fun!

Cash Register

I love this cash register! Perfect for little hands and grows with the child as they gain skills.

It targets visual motor and fine motor skills early on and later is great for sequencing, problem-solving, and math skills.

Crayola Palm Grasp Crayons

Perfect for little hands that are not ready to hold crayons with their fingers!

Melissa and Doug Cutting Food

This was a favorite for many years in my home. It was also a good way to involve them in “cooking” while I tried to prepare dinner many a nights.

Fischer Price Baby’s First Blocks

Great for little hands to explore and hours of entertainment to put in and dump out.

Grows with your child so they can work on skills such as matching shapes and making the pieces fit into the correct slot as they get older.

Melissa and Doug Water Wow Books

These are great for the car or travel. Kids love water painting and parents love not having the mess!

There are lots more options for girls and boys including fairy tale and dinosaur themed books.

ThinkFun Roll and Play Game for Toddlers

A cute first game for building communication and connection.

Toddler Scavenger Hunt Cards

A great busy activity to pull out when you just need a few minutes to get something done at home without toddler hanging on your leg!

Nuby Bathtub Alphabet Set

Not only do these stick to the bathtub wall, but they are fun to stick to windows and sliding glass doors with a little water bottle sprayer. The perfect fine motor activity and busy activity for toddlers!

Play Tunnel

Crawling is so important for developing a child’s strength and coordination. Keep them crawling longer by using this play tunnel and build into obstacle courses as your child needs more of a challenge.

Construction Eating Plate and Utensils

Playing with food is a way to encourage picky eaters to interact and get more comfortable interacting with new foods. This plate and utensils make mealtime more fun!

O Ball

The perfect first ball for little fingers.

Fischer-Price Little People Farm

A great toy to encourage pretend play and communication.

Musical Instruments

A great way to engage multiple senses while having fun!

Melissa and Doug Play Kitchen

Our play kitchen was one of the toys that lasted the longest in our home. I believe it was played with for 7 years consistently. Well worth the investment!

Melissa and Doug Large Knobbed Puzzles

The knobs on this puzzle are perfect for little hands that are just learning how to match. There’s also a picture underneath the piece on the actual board to encourage matching skills.

Little Tikes Cozy Coupe

This is another toy that got many years of use. Encourages motor planning as your child will try to figure out how to get in/out and move it forward and backward. It also makes for a good push toy for early walkers.

Mega Blocks

The best set of first blocks. Easy for pulling apart and putting together to work on getting both hands working at the same time.

Bubble Machine

More bubbles, less work…hours of entertainment!

Water Play Sink

Kids love water and this is such a fun toy to promote pretend play skills, fine motor skills and communication.

Holiday gift ideas for preschoolers

Melissa and Doug 100 piece block set

The perfect set to build endless possibilities.

100 piece Bristle Block Set

Another great option for building. Because they need to be pushed together, it’s a great way to strengthen little hands!

Magnet Blocks-100 piece set

One of our favorite purchases in my home. These still get played with by my older elementary-aged kiddos!

Learning Resources Gears, Gears, Gears!

Great for kiddos that love to make their blocks move and spin.

Toyvelt Screwdriver Toy Set

My boys love anything they can build. This set is great for sparking creativity and working on more difficult 2 handed skills and builds strength in their little fingers. Toyvelt also makes a dinosaur set and an automobile set too.

Alex Farm Finger Crayons

The next step up from the palm crayons for children who are ready to start using their fingers a little more! These have adorable farm figure characters.

8 piece dress up set

Great for dress-up and have also been used as last-minute Halloween costumes in my home!

Melissa and Doug Hand Puppets

Great for a rainy day puppet show!

Strider bike

The best bike for young riders. Helps children learn to balance without needing to learn to pedal. After they master this bike, transitioning to a two-wheeler is a breeze!

Trouble

A great first game for preschoolers!

Warning!: The clicking noise might drive you crazy after a while! 🤪

Zingo

Bingo with pictures. Kids love the tile machine and sliding it to make the tiles release. A great hand-strengthening activity.

All Better! by Usborne books

One of my kids all-time favorite board books. Use the reusable bandaids to make the animals boo-boos all better!

Skidee Scooter

A three-wheeled scooter perfect for younger kids that are just learning to balance.

Melissa and Doug Small peg puzzles

This set encourages your child to use their fingers to hold the pieces but still has the matching image under the piece to help them with matching skills.

Play Doh Ultra Fun Factory

Everything you need to get started.

Kinetic Sand

I love the feel of this sand and the best part is that it doesn’t stick to you like regular sand! A great sensory experience.

Alphabet Lacing Cards

A great way to introduce letters while working on some fine motor and eye-hand coordination skills.

Baby Stroller for baby doll

This one is better quality than some and has an extra storage pocket so your child can transport all their other goodies around.

B. Toys Pet Vet Clinic

This works on so many great skills including fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, matching, pretend play, communication skills and more!

Holiday gift ideas for school-aged children

Melissa and Doug Jigsaw Puzzles

A good set to play with after your child have mastered the larger formboard puzzles.

First Little Readers

A great first set of readers. I like the color images in this set as compared to other competitors.

Magnetic Marble Run

Use this on the refrigerator or on a magnetic dry-erase board. Great to encourage problem-solving and visual perceptual skills too!

Fort Building Kit

Building on a larger scale. Children will need to use their upper body strength to fit these pieces together while having fun building forts.

Stomp Rockets

A great way to burn some energy outside.

Dinosaur figurines

So many ways to play with these figurines. They can also get added to lots of other play schemes.

Uno Attack

Uno with a twist. Kids love when the machine spits out the cards.

MindWare Magnetic Tangrams

A great game that teaches visual perceptual skills (important for reading and writing).

Geoboard

A great hands-on tool to teach early math concepts and enhance visual skills.

Blink Card Game

A great fast-paced card game that teaches matching, counting, and shape recognition.

Left Right Center dice game

This game teaches right/left concepts and numbers.

Connect 4 Game

A great first game to teach strategy and critical thinking.

Lego Classic Set

Everything you need to get started with building amazing creations. The best part….it comes with a storage bin for all those little pieces (now you just need to teach them to actually use it!)

The Floor is Lava

Warning: Your furniture will be moved all around after they start playing this game!

Razor scooter

A smooth ride and durable.

Marble Run

Great to encourage critical thinking and problem solving as well as following directions.

Twister

A Classic.

Hot Wheels Track Builder

This set has stood the test of time and lots of rough boy play. I love that it doesn’t need batteries, sets up and tears down easily and all the pieces fit nicely in the storage case so you don’t have to have a huge permanent car structure in your living room.

Spikeball

I love how portable this game is. Great for older kids-adults. Play in the backyard, at a picnic or at the beach!

Pogo Stick

Don’t forget the helmet and maybe elbow and knee pads too!

How to encourage playing with new toys

It can be overwhelming when your child receives a lot of new toys at once.

Here are some things that we’ve done in our house to minimize the overwhelm:

Put away some of the gifts immediately after opening (without your child seeing where you put them, of course)
Select one or two new toys to play with each week.
Introduce a new way to play with the toy and model it for younger children and then let them have time to practice.
Rotate toys weekly or monthly so it keeps things exciting and less cluttered.
Limit the amount of toys in the playroom and designate a storage bin for each activity.

Did your child’s favorite toy make the list?

Did you get some new ideas?

I hope this list eases your stress this time of the year so you can get back to enjoying the other things you like to do!

Make sure to pin this post to your Holiday Pinterest board and share on social media with family and friends who need some gift ideas this season!

60+ holiday gift ideas for kids that boost brain development